Toothbrush holder and sterilizer

ABSTRACT

A toothbrush holder and sterilizer having a cylindrical body with an interior shoulder adjacent the upper end and a perforated bottom wall with an annular flange extending downwardly relative to the body. A fluid reservoir upstanding from the bottom wall, the reservoir being open at the top and having a plurality of annularly spaced openings spaced downwardly of the upper end of the reservoir. There is also an exterior shoulder adjacent the upper end of the reservoir in the same plane as the shoulder at the upper end of the body to support an annular disk having a plurality of spaced openings for reception of toothbrushes. A shallow cup is disposed on the flange on the bottom of the body for reception of condensed disinfectant or the like which will flow through the openings or perforations in the bottom wall. Any suitable disinfectant, antiseptic, germicide or the like in liquid form, is disposed in the reservoir and the fumes from the disinfectant pass upwardly and out of the upper end of the reservoir into the chamber where the bristled ends of the toothbrushes are disposed.

I United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,881,868 Duke 1 May 6, 1975 TOOTHBRUSHHOLDER AND STERILIZER [57] ABSTRACT [76] Inventor: Edna Mae Duke} BOX3431' A toothbrush holder and sterilizer having a cylindrical Suth GateCahf' N744 body with an interior shoulder adjacent the upper end 22 p pMan 6, 1974 and a perforated bottom wall with an annular flangeextending downwardly relative to the body. A fluid [2]] Appl- 433,388reservoir upstanding from the bottom wall, the reservoir being open atthe top and having a plurality of an- 52 US. Cl. 21/83; 21/122; 206/635;Iwlarly Spaced Openings Spaced downwardly of the 20 43 20 5 0; 3 2 20upper end of the reservoir. There is also an exterior 511 Int. Cl 4.A61] 3/00 Shoulder adjacent the upper end of the reservoir in the [58]Field of Search 21/83, 122; 206/635, 485, same plane as the Shoulder atthe pp end of the 20 515 5 5 312/206 body to support an annular diskhaving a plurality of spaced openings for reception of toothbrushes. Ashal- 5 R f n es Cited low cup is disposed on the flange on the bottomof the UNITED STATES PATENTS body for reception of condenseddisinfectant or the I like which will flow through the openings orperforagi? 312/ tions in the bottom wall. Any suitable disinfectant, an-|566'860 2/1925 252 I X tiseptic, germicide or the like in liquid form,is dis- 2280'431 M942 Han 312,206 X posed in the reservoir and the fumesfrom the disinfectant pass upwardly and out of the upper end of thePrimary Examiner Barry Richman reservoir into the chamber where thebristled ends of Assistant Examiner-Dale Lovercheck the toothbrushes aredlsposed' Attorney, Agent, or Firm.l. Carroll Baisch 4 Claims, 4 DrawingFigures I I 52 l l 7 7 I I i 4.

. I i is a 20 l L l24l l 34 i g 40- ,22

I IO

l I I ll l l l I |8 I6 l l8 |a i TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER AND STERILIZERBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION cated in construction and hence aredifficult and expensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises a cylindrical bodyhaving a bottom wall with perforations therein and a tubular reservoirupstanding from said bottom wall. The reservoir is open at the top andis provided with a plurality of annularly spaced openings providingcommunication between the interior of the upper end of the reservoir andan annular chamber defined by the annular wall of the body, the bottomwall and the reservoir. There is an annular interior shoulder at theupper end of the wall of the body and there is also an annular exteriorshoulder at the upper end of the reservoir. These shoulders are in acommon plane and an annular donut-shaped disk is removably disposed onthese shoulders. A plurality of annularly spaced openings or holes areprovided in the disk for reception of the handles of toothbrushes. Thehandles depend into the annular chamber below the disk and the parts ofthe toothbrushes having bristles are disposed above the disk. There is acap having an annular interior shoulder adjacent the free edge and saidcap is removably disposed on the upper end of the body and provides acompartment in which the bristled parts of the toothbrushes aredisposed. At the bottom end of the body, there is an annular flangewhich extends below the plane of the bottom wall and a bottom cup isdisposed on this flange to thereby provide a collecting chamber forcondensed disinfectant, antiseptic or the like which is disposed in thelower portion of the reservoir and is in liquidated form. These fumesare adapted to pass from the reservoir into the compartment by way ofthe open end of the reservoir and additional fumes pass from thereservoir into the annular chamber through the openings in the reservoirwall adjacent the upper end of said reservoir. Fumes that condense inthe compartment will flow downwardly into the chamber by way of theopenings in which the toothbrushes are disposed and hence will flow intothe collecting chamber by way of the holes in the bottom wall of thebody. There are channels in the top of the bottom wall leading to therespective holes to facilitate drainage into said holes and thence tothe collecting chamber.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the presentinvention to provide a toothbrush holder and sterilizer that is simplein construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device of thischaracter having means for supporting toothbrushes and for subjectingthem to the disinfectant, antiseptic, germicide and the like.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device of thischaracter wherein a liquid disinfectant, an-

tiseptic, germicide in a reservoir from which the fumes will pass intothe compartment in which the bristled parts of the brushes are disposed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter having a cup defining a collecting chamber into whichcondensed fumes pass.

Still another object of the invention is to provide drainage means forfacilitating drainage into the collecting cup or chamber.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention are furthersufficiently referred to in connection with the following detaileddescription of the accompanying drawings, which represent oneembodiment. After considering this example, skilled persons willunderstand that many variations may be made without departing from theprinciples disclosed and I contemplate the employment of any structures,arrangements or modes of operation that are properly within the scope ofthe appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings which arefor illustrative purposes only:

FIG. 1 is a top plane view of a device embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly tothe drawings, there is shown a device embodying the present inventionand having a cylindrical body, indicated generally at 10, defined by acylindrical wall 12. The lower end of the body 10 is closed by a wall 14having openings or perforations 16 therein, there being channels 18 insaid bottom wall inclined towards the openings 16 for drainage ofcondensed fumes of a disinfectant, or the like, as will be describedmore fully hereinafter. A cylindrical tubular reservoir, indicatedgenerally at 20, is defined by cylindrical wall 22 which is upstandingfrom the bottom 14. The reservoir is open at its upper end and there area plurality of openings 24 in the wall 22 of the reservoir spaceddownwardly of the upper end of the reservoir. Wall 12 of the body has aninterior shoulder 26 and the wall of the reservoir 22 has an exteriorshoulder 28 adjacent its upper end.

An annular donut-shaped disk 30 is removably disposed on the shoulders26 and 28 and said disk is provided with a plurality of annularly spacedopenings 32 for reception of the handles of toothbrushes so that saidhandles depend into an annular chamber 34 defined by the walls of thebody and the reservoir, it being noted that the exterior diameter of thereservoir is substantially smaller than the interior diameter of thebody. A toothbrush is indicated generally at 36, the bristled portionbeing indicated at 38 and the handle being indicated at 40.

Body wall 12 has a longitudinal extension or flange 42 below the bottomwall 14 and there is a shallow cup 44 in which the flange 42 isreceived. The cup provides a collecting chamber 48 for conducted fumesand since the cup is removable, liquid that has been collected therein,may be disposed of after the cup has been removed.

The upper end of the body is provided with a cap 50 having an interiorshoulder 52 which rests on the upper end of the body wall 12 when thecap is in place. A compartment 54 is defined by the cap and the disk 30,the bristled ends 38 of toothbrushes disposed in the device being insaid compartment 54.

While only one toothbrush has been shown, it is to be understood that aplurality of brushes may be placed in the device in the openings 32 andwhen it is desired to use a toothbrush, the cap is removed and thetoothbrush removed from its opening.

When toothbrushes are not in use, they are disposed in the device andliquid disinfectant, antiseptic, germicide or the like is disposed inthe lower portion of the reservoir as indicated at 58.

Fumes from the antiseptic or the like will pass into the compartment 54by way of the open upper end of the reservoir while some of the fumeswill also pass through the openings 24 in the reservoir wall into theannular chamber 34. When these fumes condense, they condensate incompartment 54, flow through the openings 32 and into the chamber 34.These fumes as well as the fumes condensed in the chamber 34, will flowonto the bottom wall in the channels 18 and through the openings 16 intothe collecting chamber.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that a sanitary toothbrushholder and sterilizer is provided. The device also protects thetoothbrushes from air-carried germs, or bacteria or the like.

The device is simple and economical and relatively inexpensive tomanufacture. Also, when it is desired to use a toothbrush, it is readilyaccessible by removal of the cap and is easy to remove. it is alsoequally easy to replace and with the replacing of the cover, the deviceis fully effective to provide the advantages hereandabove described.

The invention and its attendant advantages will be understood from theforegoing description and it will be apparent that various changes maybe made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts with outdeparting from the spirit or scope thereof or sacrificing its materialadvantages, the arrangement hereinbefore described being merely by wayof example and I do not wish to be restricted to the specific form shownor uses mentioned except as defined in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

I. A toothbrush holder and sterilizing device comprising:

a wall defining a holder body; a bottom wall fixedly attached to saidholder body wall at the lower end of said body, said bottom wall havinga plurality of perforations therethrough;

a substantially imperforate tubular reservoir means for holdingsterilizing liquid extending upwardly from the bottom wall and closed atthe lower end by said bottom wall, the upper end of said reservoir beingopen, the reservoir being defined by a tubular wall of smallercross-sectional area than the interior cross-sectional area of the body,the space between the wall of the body and the wall of the reservoirdefining a sterilizing chamber therebetween;

an annular disk having a plurality of spaced apart toothbrush handlereceiving openings through said annular disk, said disk having a centralopening therethrough for accommodating the upper end of said tubularreservoir, said holder body having means for supporting said diskadjacent the upper end of the body, the perforations in said bottom wallacting to drain any liquid which would otherwise accumulate within saidchamber; a drainage cup mounted at the lower end of said holder bodybelow said perforations in said bottom wall for collecting liquiddraining through said perforations; and

a removable cap for the upper end of the body.

2. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein the collecting cup isremovably mounted on said holder body.

3. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein the bottom wall has aplurality of channels in the upper side thereof, said channelscommunicating with the openings in the bottom wall.

4. The invention defined by claim 3, wherein said channels are inclineddownwardly toward respective openings in the bottom wall.

i I)! IF

1. A toothbrush holder and sterilizing device comprising: a walldefining a holder body; a bottom wall fixedly attached to said holderbody wall at the lower end of said body, said bottom wall having aplurality of perforations therethrough; a substantially imperforatetubular reservoir means for holding sterilizing liquid extendingupwardly from the bottom wall and closed at the lower end by said bottomwall, the upper end of said reservoir being open, the reservoir beingdefined by a tubular wall of smaller cross-sectional area than theinterior cross-sectional area of the body, the space between the wall ofthe body and the wall of the reservoir defining a sterilizing chambertherebetween; an annular disk having a plurality of spaced aparttoothbrush handle receiving openings through said annular disk, saiddisk having a central opening therethrough for accommodating the upperend of said tubular reservoir, said holder body having means forsupporting said disk adjacent the upper end of the body, theperforations in said bottom wall acting to drain any liquid which wouldotherwise accumulate within said chamber; a drainage cup mounted at thelower end of said holder body below said perforations in said bottomwall for collecting liquid draining through said perforations; and aremovable cap for the upper end of the body.
 2. The invention defined byclaim 1, wherein the collecting cup is removably mounted on said holderbody.
 3. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein the bottom wall has aplurality of channels in the upper side thereof, said channelscommunicating with the openings in the bottom wall.
 4. THe inventiondefined by claim 3, wherein said channels are inclined downwardly towardrespective openings in the bottom wall.